Automatic wire stripper

ABSTRACT

An automatic wire stripper ( 100 ) comprises at least one knife unit ( 40 ) having at least one knife holder ( 41 ) and a knife carriage ( 45 ) articulated on the knife holder; a clamping arm unit ( 30 ) with at least one clamping jaw ( 31 ) disposed on the front end thereof; a housing base ( 20 ) having an upper clamping arm ( 25 ) in which the knife unit ( 40 ) is displaceably guided; at least one clamping jaw ( 21 ); a clamping arm bearing ( 23 ) whereon the clamping arm unit ( 30 ) can be pivotally mounted; a handle lever unit ( 60 ) which is pivotally connected to a housing base ( 20 ) on a handle lever bearing ( 61 ) and an articulated lever ( 70 ) having a first and a second articulated lever arm ( 72, 75 ) which are connected to each other in a pivotable manner by an articulated lever center axis ( 73 ). The first articulated lever arm ( 72 ) is guided with the first articulated lever axis ( 71 ) in a guiding connecting link ( 32 ) of the clamping arm unit ( 30 ); the second articulated lever ( 75 ) is fixed in an articulated manner to the knife unit ( 40 ); and the articulated lever center axis ( 73 ) is guided in the handle lever unit ( 60 ).

The invention relates to automatic stripping pliers, in particular forflat cables.

Automatic stripping pliers that are used to strip the ends of anelectrical cable from the insulating jacket are known from, for example,DE 39 22 016 C2. With it, the cable is placed between two knife elementsthat have their blades set against each other. The insulated cable isclamped next to the knives. By pulling the movable grip lever againstthe handgrip of the base housing, the knife elements are pressed intothe insulation. With the continued grip movement, the knives are movedin the direction of the cable end, such that the insulation that hasbeen severed by the knives is stripped off the electrical lead. Allthese processes can be accomplished with the known automatic strippingpliers in one single movement, namely the moving of the grip lever tothe hand grip of the base housing. This significantly simplifies thestripping of electrical cables.

However, with the known stripping pliers only a certain length can bestripped from the end of the cable, because the knives are attached toarms that are connected in an articulated manner to one another,resulting in the distance from the knife to the articulated axis that isstruck by the cable end as a maximum functional length. This distance issufficient to strip the electrical lead at the end of the cable, whichcan then be inserted into respective terminals of electrical devices.However, it is not possible to remove the outer jacket of amulti-insulated electrical cable over a greater length, as is necessary,for example, to arrange individual wires at intact individual wireinsulations in junction boxes, etc. While as a workaround, round wirescan still be lead to the side out of the knife arms, kinking flat cablesto the side is not possible such that with the known pliers the outerjacket cannot be removed to a greater length.

A principle objective of the invention, therefore, is to provideautomatic stripping pliers which are capable of stripping any length ofstripping a cable jacket, in particular of a flat cable.

This objective is achieved by automatic stripping pliers with thefeatures of claim 1.

Significant to the invention is the elbow lever unit, which controls theentire movement sequence during stripping and affects a uniform forcedistribution in all phases of movement. Load peaks during operation ofthe elbow lever unit according to the invention have the effect thatcertain positions of the components are assumed or abandoned. It is notpossible to destroy the cable being stripped or even the strippingpliers through carelessness or by applying too much force. Thus, manycomponents of the stripping pliers can be manufactured economically ofsynthetic materials.

Feed-through of long cables can, for example, be enabled by a knifeholder that is open towards the top and a base housing that is opentowards the top. Preferably, however, the knife holder and/or the knifecarriage exhibit, at least in the area of the articulated axis, aU-shaped cross-section. This forms a cable feed-through channel betweenthe knife carriage and the knife holder.

To reduce the friction forces, and with it the actuating forces to beapplied by the user, the center axis of the elbow lever should be maderollable in the elbow lever axis guide groove via an elbow lever guideroll.

In preferred embodiments, the clamping arm unit exhibits at its bottomside a guide link, where the knife unit is guided via a knife unit guideroll. The guide link is provided with at least one locking notch. Theguide link controls the movement of the knife unit in the clamping armunit. In addition, the locking notch provides a fixed support for theelbow lever unit in a first phase of movement.

In one preferred embodiment, the knife unit's guide roll is furthermoresupported at the receiving joint of the spring, such that the pressingforce transferred by the spring unit presses directly onto the knifeunit's guide roll and if applicable presses it into a locking notch.

Preferably, the end axis of the second elbow lever is located in thearticulated axis of the knife unit, such that a force vector acting fromthe elbow lever unit onto the second elbow lever end axis affects only atranslatory movement of the knife unit but not an opening or closing ofthe knife unit.

The knife carriage and/or the knife holder are preferably provided withreplaceable knife elements in order to easily replace dull blades.

The upper clamping arm and/or the clamping arm unit can be provided withreplaceable clamping jaws such that not only damaged clamping jaws canbe replaced but also special clamping jaws can be employed that arematched to the respective cable type processed by the stripping pliers.

Additional advantageous embodiments of the invention become apparentfrom the sub-claims and are explained below based on an exemplaryembodiment with reference made to a drawing. The Figures show in detail:

FIGS. 1 to 3 are cross-sectional side views of the stripping pliersaccording to the invention at various operational positions;

FIG. 4 shows the stripping pliers according to FIGS. 1 to 3 with a longcable end;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the stripping pliers;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the stripping pliers with a cable cutter; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of an additional embodiment ofstripping pliers.

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a preferred embodiment of stripping pliers100 according to the invention. Essentially, it is comprised of:

-   -   a base housing 20,    -   a clamping arm unit 30,    -   a knife unit 40,    -   a stop element 50,    -   a handle lever element 60,    -   an elbow lever unit 70, and    -   a spring element 80.

At its upper end, the base housing 20 ends with an upper clamping arm 25with a clamping jaw 21 located at its front end. A handgrip section 24is formed downwards.

Connected with the base housing 20 in a movable manner are:

-   -   the clamping arm unit 30 via the articulated clamping arm        bearing 23, and    -   the handle lever unit 60 via the articulated handle lever joint        61.

The length of the clamping arm unit 30 is selected such that the freeend is approximately opposite to the end of the upper clamping arm 25.Another clamping jaw 31 is located at the free end and is locatedopposite the clamping jaw 21 of the base housing 20. The clamping armunit 30 is designed such that it receives the knife carriage 45 as thelower partial element of the knife unit 40, whereby the knife carriage45 is supported in it across a portion of the length of the clamping armunit 30 in a movable fashion.

As FIG. 5 clearly shows, the clamping arm unit 30 exhibits at its sidewall at least one elbow lever axis guide groove 34 (cf. FIG. 5) thatlimits the travel of a first elbow lever end axis 71 in certainoperational positions. At its bottom side, the clamping arm unit 30 isdesigned with a sliding seat for the stop element 50 and a guide link 32for a knife unit guide roll 49.

The handle lever unit 60 exhibits at the articulated handle lever joint61 a stop bolt 62. This is a fixed stop for the stop element 50 of theelbow lever unit 70. The stop bolt 62 can be connected to the handlelever unit 61 in a fixed manner cylindrically as a rigid axis, or it isarranged rotably around the articulated handle lever joint 61.

A handgrip section 64 is formed at the end opposite the handle leverjoint 61. Length and curvature are selected and matched to the handgripsection 64 of the base housing 20 such that the stripping pliers 100subject to the invention can be held and operated easily by the user.

The handle lever unit 60 with the elbow lever axis guide groove 66,which is advantageously surrounded by an elevated guide strip 65,exhibits a slide guide for an elbow lever center axis 73.

At the handle lever unit 60, a spring element 80 is additionallyarticulated at an articulated spring element bearing 63. The springelement 80 consists essentially of an upper and a lower spring supportelement 81, 82, which are located on the same center axis and have acompression spring located between them. The upper spring supportelement 81 is articulated at the knife unit 40 via a spring elementreceiving axis 48.

Fundamentally, the knife unit 40 is comprised of a lower knife carriage45 and a knife holder 41 articulated on said carriage. At their freeends, the knife carriage 45 and the knife holder 41 each exhibit atleast one knife element 43, 46, that can, at least partially, cutthrough the synthetic jacket of an electrical cable 1. The knifecarriage 45 and the knife holder 41 are connected in an articulatedmanner via a knife unit joint 44. In the area of the knife unit joint44, the knife holder 41 is designed with a U-shaped cross-section,whereby the open end of the cross-section points down in the directionof the knife carriage 45. This creates an interim space between theupper side of the knife carriage 45 and the bottom side of the wall ofthe knife holder 41 shown sectionally in FIG. 1, where the cable 1 canbe fed through. Molded onto the bottom side of the knife carriage 45 isa joint receptacle in which a knife unit guide roll 49 is supportedrotably. Preferably, the axis 48 of the knife unit guide roll 49coincides with the articulated joint of the upper spring support element81.

The knife unit guide roll 49 runs along the guide link 32 at the bottomside of the clamping arm unit 30. The guide link 32 is provided withlocking notches, run-up slopes, etc. to control the movement of theknife unit 40 in relation to the clamping arm unit 30 as will beelucidated below.

A core component of the stripping pliers 100 according to the inventionis in addition to the knife unit 40 with cable feed-through channel, theelbow lever unit 70 together with the stop element 50.

The elbow lever unit 70 is comprised of a first elbow lever 72 and asecond elbow lever 78 that is articulated on the first elbow lever viaan elbow lever center axis 73. The elbow lever center axis 73 is guidedin a movable fashion in the elbow lever axis guide groove 66 of thehandle lever unit 60 via an elbow lever guide roll 74.

The second elbow lever 75 with its second elbow lever end axis 76 isarticulated at the knife unit 40; preferably, the second elbow lever endaxis 76 and the knife unit joint 44 coincide. This has the effect thatthe force acting by the elbow lever 75 onto the knife unit 40 resultsonly in a movement of the same in relation to the clamping arm unit 30,but not to an articulating movement of the knife carriage 45 in relationto the knife holder 41.

In this preferred embodiment, the first elbow lever 72 is guided withits first elbow lever end axis 71 both in the guide link 32 of theclamping arm unit 30 and in the elbow lever axis guide notch 47 of theknife unit 40. While the guide link 32 of the clamping arm unit 30exhibits only a certain length and limits the movement range of thefirst elbow lever end axis 71, the elbow lever axis guide groove 47 ofthe knife unit 40 is designed with such a length that the knife unit 40can be moved independent of the respective position of the first elbowlever end axis 71 across the entire possible travel path within theclamping arm unit 30.

The stop element 50 is articulated on the first elbow lever end axis 71.This stop element exhibits a support surface that is used to support thestop element 50 at the bottom side of the clamping arm unit 30. Inaddition, the stop element 50 exhibits a stop surface 52, which is at aslope towards the support surface and approximately vertical to theforce vector of a force F applied by the user when operating thehandgrips 24, 64.

The kinematics subject to the invention is explained below based on themovement sequence when stripping an electrical cable as shown in FIGS. 1to 3:

FIG. 1 shows a possible starting position, where the clamping arm unit30 with its clamping jaw 31 is spread apart from the clamping arm 25with the clamping jaw 21 of the base housing 20, and the knife holder 41is spread apart from the knife carriage 45, such that the two knifeelements 43, 46 are at a certain distance opposite each other. It is nowpossible to insert a cable 1 between the clamping jaws 21, 31 and theknife elements 43, 46, and that at any length, for example, as shown inFIG. 1, relatively short for full stripping of the individual wires attheir ends, or for removing the outer jacket of the cable at a greaterdistance from the cable end.

With the stripping pliers 100 according to the invention, it is possibleto push the cable 1 through the entire knife unit 40 and past the twoarticulating axis joints 44 located on the outside until the cable 1exits from the back of the base housing 20. In this manner, the outerjacket can be cut at a great distance from the end of the cable.

At the starting position shown in FIG. 1, the hand grip 64 is alsospread apart of the base housing 20 with its hand grip 24 due to theforce of the spring 83. In its most forward position, the knife unit 40is located within the clamping arm unit 30 or the base housing 20,respectively. At this position, the knife unit guide roll 49 engages ina locking notch 33 of the guide link 32 at the bottom side of theclamping arm unit 30; the locking notch 33 can be recognized in FIG. 3.

The slanted position of the elbow lever axis guide groove 66 has theeffect that at a maximum spread of the grip lever unit 60 according toFIG. 1, the elbow lever center axis 73 is pulled into the right area ofthe groove 66 via the elbow lever guide roll 74 that runs in the elbowlever axis guide groove 66. Through this, the first elbow lever end axis71 with the stop element 50 is pulled back at the same time via thefirst elbow lever 72. The stop surface 52 of the stop element 50maintains a distance to the stop bolt 62.

When operating the stripping pliers 100 according to the invention, thehandle lever unit 60 is pivoted toward the base housing 20 around thehandle lever joint 61. A force is applied to the knife unit guide roll49 via the spring element 80, and is pressed into the locking notch 33of the guide link 32 by this force. Via the knife unit guide roll 49,the second elbow lever end axis 76 is at the same time temporarily fixedin the locking notch, because a fixed connection is established betweenthe axes 44 and 48 via the knife carriage 45.

At the same time, when operating the handle lever unit 60, a force isapplied to the elbow lever guide roll 74 at the elbow center axis 73 viathe guide strip 65 at the elbow lever axis guide notch 66. Because thesecond elbow lever axis 76 is in this phase still fixed as describedabove, the first elbow lever 72 makes an evasive movement to the left.Through it, the stop element 50 is pushed further forward, i.e., in thedirection of the clamping jaws 21, 31 until the stop surface 52 rests onthe stop bolt 62.

This condition is shown in FIG. 2: The clamping jaws 21, 31 clamp theinserted cable 1 at its outer circumference. The blades of the knifeelements 43, 46 have entered the jacket of the cable 1 and have cut thejacket at least partially. To this end, the position of each of theblade edges of the knife elements 43, 46 is selected such that theyprotrude only slightly past the clamping jaws 21, 31 toward the insideinto the angle formed between the knife carriage 45 and the knife holder41. This ensures that even cables that are provided with a very thinjacket are not cut by the knife elements 43, 46, and that only the outerjacket is removed without the copper strands being cut by the knives.Cutting into the jacket at the circumference is sufficient to tear offthe jacket portion with only minimal application of force for thetypical electrical cable PVC jackets, and thus achieve the fullseparation of the jacket.

Tearing off is accomplished through the backwards movement of the knifeunit 40 as the third significant phase of movement, whereby the knifeelements 43, 46 remain engaged with the jacket, and the cable 1 remainsclamped next to the knife elements 43, 46 by the clamping jaws 21, 31.

The third operating phase starts with the situation shown in FIG. 2,whereby the knife unit 40 is still located in its front most positionnear the clamping jaws 21, 31, and whereby the stop surface 52 issupported at the stop bolt 62. Now, a movement of the stop element 50 isno longer possible, such that the end axis of the first elbow lever 71is fixed via the stop element 50.

The force applied to the elbow lever center axis 73 also acts upon thesecond elbow lever 75, and thus upon the knife unit joint 44. In thecourse of the operation of the handle lever unit 60, the force actingupon the second elbow lever 75 and the knife unit 40 rises due to thefirst elbow lever 72, which is fixed via the stop element 50, to anextent that the knife unit guide roll 49 is pressed out of the lockingnotch 33 and the knife unit 40 is pushed backwards in the clamping armunit 30.

The part of the jacket of the cable 1 that is to be removed is pulledbackwards with the movement of the knife unit 40 and is fully torn off.This results in the situation shown in FIG. 3.

Upon release of the hand grip section 64, the handle lever unit 60 isreturned to its initial position due to the force of the compressionspring 83, whereby the clamping arm unit 30 is spread apart from theupper clamping arm 25 of the base housing 20; the same applies to theknife holder 41 in relation to the knife carriage 45. The processedcable 1 can now be removed from the opened stripping pliers 100.

The separated portion of the jacket has been automatically pulled offcompletely, if the length to be stripped is not longer than the maximumpossible return path length of the knife unit 40. Otherwise, the end ofthe jacket to be removed has been pulled back enough such that the usercan easily grab it and pull it off the cable end.

A knife holder guide groove 22 can be recognized in FIG. 3 in which aguide cam 42 runs that has been molded onto the outside of the knifeholder 41. This has the effect that the knife holder 41 moves at apre-specified path in the base housing 20 and that the knife holder 41does not need to be spread apart from the knife carriage 45 throughadditional springs, etc.

The specific advantage of the invention is achieved through the elbowlever unit 70. In all operational phases, a force is transferred via theelbow levers 72, 75 leading to the closing of the clamping jaws 21, 31,or the pressing together of the knife elements 43, 46, respectively, andmaintaining the clamping action also during the subsequent operationalsteps; i.e., a sufficient clamping force is created via the elbow leverunit 70 that the cable 1, which is clamped between the clamping jaws 21,31, is not moved during the return movement of the knife unit 40.Together with the clamping force, the force for the complete tearing offand pulling off of the jacket is applied via the elbow lever unit 70.Force peaks lead to the initiation of the next phase of the movement,such that the forces acting upon the cable are limited by design.

FIG. 4 shows how a long cable end is fed through the stripping pliers100, in particular through the pliers' knife unit 40. Also recognizableis the elbow lever axis guide groove 34 in the clamping arm unit 30 bywhich the travel of the first elbow lever end axis 71 and with it, thetravel of the stop element 50 is limited. Important is, in particular,the limiting of the forward movement of the first elbow lever end axis71, because this prevents too great a clamping force from acting uponthe clamping jaws 21, 31, which would squeeze off very thin cables.

FIG. 6 shows another preferred embodiment with an additional cablecut-off device. It is formed by a knife holder 91 that is positivelyconnected to the base housing and a blade 92 that is attached to thehandle lever unit 60. When pivoting the handle lever unit 60 around thehandle lever joint 61, the blade 92 is moved toward the fixed knifeholder 91. A cable placed between these parts will be fully cut. Theknife holder 91 is preferably fixed to the stop bolt 62 as well as toanother point at the base housing 20, which can be freely selected aslong as it does not interfere with the operation of the user and doesallow a free movement of the elbow lever unit 70 and of the springelement 80. For the sake of clarity, the elbow lever unit 70, the springelement 80 and the stop element 50 are not shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 shows still another preferred embodiment of stripping pliers100′, where the clamping arm 25′ of the housing 20′ exhibits a pressurepoint element 26′, which is located opposite the upper side of the knifeunit 40 and is guided in a movable fashion in a pressure point elementguide groove 27′.

Through the pressure point element 26′, the pressure point against whichthe knife unit 40 is pressed when operating the stripping pliers, can bedefined and changed, in a first phase when the knife holder 41 and theknife carriage 45 as well as the clamping jaws 21, 31 are moved towardeach other under inclusion of a cable 1 placed between them. The knifeunit 40 presses, depending on the position of the pressure point element26′ somewhat earlier or somewhat later in its movement against thiscreated pressure point. In this manner, the knife unit 40 is fixed atthe front at the knife elements and further back at the pressure pointelement 26′. At the same time, the clamping arm unit 30′ is also fixedat the front at the clamping jaws 21, 31 and indirectly via the knifeunit 40 at the pressure point element 26′.

A further increasing force, when operating the stripping pliers 100′, isguided to the blocked clamping arm unit 30′ via the knife unit guideroll 49, and results in the knife unit guide roll 49 being pushed out ofthe locking notch 33 (cf. FIG. 4), which triggers, as has already beenexplained above, the return movement of the knife unit 40 leading to thepulling off of the cut off cable jacket.

To reduce the bending stress of the clamping arm unit 30, in particularbetween the moment of blocking of the clamping arm unit 30′ by placingthe knife unit 40 against the pressure point element 26′ and the startof the return movement of the knife unit after the knife unit guide roll49 has been pushed out of the locking notch, the articulated clampingarm bearing 23′, is formed by an axis connected to the base housing 20′where said axis rests on a damping element 35′ in the clamping arm unit30′.

The elastomeric damping element 35, is preferably located underneath theaxis in an elongated hole 36′ in the clamping unit 30′ and cushions loadpeaks. The additional damping can be provided for both the first shownembodiment of the stripping pliers 100 and the embodiment of thestripping pliers 100′ with the pressure point.

REFERENCE CHARACTER LIST

-   100 Stripping pliers-   20, 20′ Base housing-   21 Clamping jaw-   22 Knife holder guide groove-   23, 23′ Articulated clamping arm bearing-   24 Hand grip section-   25 Upper clamping arm-   26′ Pressure point element-   27′ Pressure point element guide groove-   30, 30′Clamping arm unit-   31 Clamping jaw-   32 Guide link-   33 Locking notch-   34 Elbow lever axis guide groove-   35′ Damping element-   36′ Elongated hole-   40 Knife unit-   41 Knife holder-   42 Guide cams-   43 Upper knife element-   44 Knife unit joint-   45 Knife carriage-   46 Lower knife element-   47 Elbow lever axis guide groove-   48 Spring element receiving axis-   49 Knife unit guide roll-   50 Stop element-   52 Stop surface-   60 Handle lever unit-   61 Articulated handle lever bearing-   62 Stop bolt-   63 Articulated spring element bearing-   64 Hand grip section-   65 Guide strip-   66 Elbow lever axis guide groove-   70 Elbow lever unit-   71 First elbow lever end axis-   72 First elbow lever-   73 Elbow lever center axis-   74 Elbow lever guide roll-   75 Second elbow lever-   76 Second elbow lever end axis-   80 Spring element-   81 Upper spring support element-   82 Lower spring support element-   83 Compression spring-   1 Cable

1. Automatic stripping pliers, in particular for flat cables,comprising, in combination: a knife unit, having at least one knifeholder and a knife carriage articulated on said knife holder; a clampingarm unit with at least one clamping jaw located at its front end; a basehousing with one upper clamping arm, in which the knife unit is guidedin a movable fashion, at least one clamping jaw, a clamping arm bearingon which the clamping arm unit is articulated; a handle lever unit,which is articulated at an articulated handle lever bearing with thebase housing; and an elbow lever unit consisting of a first and a secondelbow lever arm that are articulated relative to one another via anelbow lever center axis, whereby the first elbow lever arm is guidedwith the first elbow lever end axis in a guide link of the clamping armunit, the second elbow lever is articulated at the knife unit and theelbow lever center axis is guided in the handle lever unit.
 2. Strippingpliers as set forth in claim 1, wherein the knife unit is supported in amovable fashion in the clamping arm unit.
 3. Stripping pliers as setforth in claim 1, wherein the base housing exhibits a hand grip section.4. Stripping pliers as set forth in claim 1, wherein the handle leverunit exhibits at least one elbow lever axis guide groove, a springelement bearing and a stop bolt.
 5. Stripping pliers as set forth inclaim 4, further comprising a stop element, which can be moved with thefirst elbow lever end axis in relation to the clamping arm unit andrests on the stop bolt with the stop surface.
 6. Stripping pliers as setforth in claim 4, wherein the first elbow lever arm with the first elbowlever end axis is supported in a movable fashion in the elbow lever axisguide groove of the clamping arm unit.
 7. Stripping pliers as set forthin claim 1, wherein the elbow lever center axis is guided in the elbowlever axis guide groove of the handle lever unit.
 8. Stripping pliers asset forth in claim 1, wherein at least one of the knife holder and theknife carriage exhibits a U-shaped cross-section at least in the area ofthe articulated axis and whereby a cable feed-through channel is createdbetween the knife carriage and the knife holder.
 9. Stripping pliers asset forth in claim 1, wherein the elbow lever center axis is supportedin the elbow lever axis guide groove in a rollable fashion via an elbowlever guide roll.
 10. Stripping pliers as set forth in claim, whereinthe guide edge of the elbow lever axis guide groove is thickened througha guide strip.
 11. Stripping pliers as set forth in claim 1, wherein theknife carriage exhibits an elbow lever axis guide groove across aportion of its length, which is at least partially covered by the elbowlever axis guide groove of the clamping arm unit.
 12. Stripping pliersas set forth in claim 1, wherein the clamping arm unit exhibits at itslower side a guide link on which the knife unit is guided via a knifeunit guide roll.
 13. Stripping pliers as set forth in claim 12, whereinthe guide link exhibits at least one locking notch.
 14. Stripping pliersas set forth in claim 12, wherein the knife unit guide roll is supportedat the spring receiving joint.
 15. Stripping pliers as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the second elbow lever end axis is located in thearticulated axis of the knife unit.
 16. Stripping pliers as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the knife carriage and the knife holder are providedwith replaceable knife elements.
 17. Stripping pliers as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the upper clamping arm and the clamping arm unit areprovided with replaceable clamping jaws.
 18. Stripping pliers as setforth in claim 1, wherein a knife blade is located at the handle leverunit, with said knife blade moving with a pivoting movement of thehandle lever unit against a fixed knife element in the base housing. 19.Stripping pliers as set forth in claim 1, wherein the upper clamping armexhibits a pressure point element that is guided in a pressure pointelement guide groove and that is located opposite the upper end of theknife unit.
 20. Stripping pliers as set forth in claim 1, wherein thearticulated clamping arm bearing is formed by an axis that is connectedwith the base housing and that rests against a damping element locatedin the clamping arm unit.
 21. Stripping pliers as set forth in claim 20,wherein the damping element is located underneath the axis in anelongated hole in the clamping arm unit.